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Ryan Bader successfully defended the Bellator Heavyweight Championship against Fedor Emelianenko in the main event of Bellator 290.
Reports have stated that Bader earned $150,000 for his bout against Emelianenko, but the heavyweight kingpin says he was paid much more.
“No, I made significantly more,” Bader said on The MMA Hour (transcript via Mike Heck of MMA Fighting). “You get that a lot. They’ll release that and people are like, ‘Fedor only made $100,000 for this fight?’ No. I wouldn’t be fighting if I was making that. This is a job for me and I’m making the kind of money where it’s hard to walk away from — to walk in a cage at our level, and how good we are, and leave that money on the table. The bigger players, in there, the champions, that kind of stuff, it’s disclosed pay, but Bellator treats us very, very well and I know they treat Fedor even better.”
Although Bader says he made more than $150,000, there was no figure given by Bader as to what he actually did make at the event.
Bader also says that Bellator pays him a lot better than the UFC did during his time with the promotion.
“Oh yeah, like eight, nine times more [than the UFC paid me],” Bader explained. “Look, we know they put out those numbers, and it’s the same with the UFC, but Bellator takes care of us. I’ve never been happier. I love the vibe over there. The people there, I’ve gotten to know them since 2017 and I have nothing but great things to say about them since and I never regretted it one time coming over.”
